RELATED VIDEO NATO on Saturday, March 27, describes downing of two Yugoslav MiGs on Friday Windows Media 28K 80K   To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery.  ALSO: Kosovo refugees report Serb crackdown intensifies Clinton restates case for airstrikes Montenegro, Macedonia sucked into Kosovo crisis  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo

March 27, 1999
Web posted at: 7:41 p.m. EST (0041 GMT)

In this story: Explosions heard in Belgrade on fourth day of strikes Fleeing refugees tell of violence Much of Podujevo reported burning NATO unmoved by KLA's plea for ground troops Milosevic asks for 'all necessary assistance' Montenegrin leaders urge Milosevic to back down Clinton: Kosovo violence shows need for strikes RELATED STORIES, SITES

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- NATO announced Saturday that it will move to the second phase of its air campaign against Yugoslavia, with a new emphasis on low-altitude attacks on tanks and heavy weapons on the ground in Kosovo.

"We're certainly going to go after the heavy weapons and the command posts and the headquarters which are used to sustain that violent campaign" against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said in an interview with CNN.

NATO officials said that while Yugoslav troops inside their barracks would not be targeted, troops in the field would be subject to attack.

NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana ordered the move to the second phase of the air campaign after consultations with ambassadors from the 19 NATO countries.

The attacks called for in phase two -- which could present more danger to NATO pilots who will be flying lower and more slowly -- will be carried out primarily in Kosovo and areas just to the north of the province, Shea said. But he said attacks on air defenses and other military facilities would continue in other parts of Yugoslavia.

Explosions heard in Belgrade

On Saturday, NATO launched a fourth day of air attacks in Yugoslavia. A series of loud explosions could be heard in Belgrade, though the detonations appeared to be well outside the city.

In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said NATO's strategy in the second phase of the air campaign is "to make sure that we do make it very difficult for the Yugoslav army to support the repression in Kosovo and that we increase the cost of (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic of doing that."

In Washington, White House officials said the phase two attack had been part of NATO's plan from the beginning of the air campaign and was not a reaction to reports of stepped-up attacks on ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo.

Fleeing refugees tell of violence

On Saturday, thousands more Albanian refugees left Kosovo and poured into neighboring Albania and Macedonia, telling of forced roundups and expulsions.

A village in Kosovo just north of Macedonia was on fire Saturday, and residents who fled across the border told CNN's Chris Burns that police had ordered them to leave their homes within two hours or be killed.

Cook told CNN that NATO officials have received reports of "severe fighting" inside Kosovo, and he warned Yugoslav officials that they would be held responsible for attacks on civilians.

"Those who carry out those acts should know that what they're doing is committing a war crime. They will be held accountable for it, and it will not just be the field commanders," Cook said. "Any political leaders we find who have ordered that type of behavior will also be held to account."

Much of Podujevo reported burning

Shea said there were unconfirmed reports that Yugoslav army and special police units were going door to door in north and central Kosovo, taking men from their homes.

A large part of Podujevo -- just north of Pristina, Kosovo's provincial capital -- was reportedly burning, he said.

British Secretary of Defense George Robertson accused Milosevic of cracking down harder on ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

"We have heard that some villages do not exist," Robertson said.

NATO unmoved by KLA's plea for ground troops

The separatist Kosovo Liberation Army, the target of the Yugoslav crackdown in Kosovo, called on NATO Saturday to send ground troops.

"We welcome the (NATO) strikes, but we demand that NATO ground troops come to Kosovo as quickly as possible," a KLA spokesman said at a news conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

But NATO leaders, including U.S. President Bill Clinton, have made it clear there are no plans to introduce ground troops in a combat role. In his remarks to CNN, Cook reiterated that stand.

"We are not capable, we do not have the capacity in theater, and we do not have the intention of committing ground troops. To assemble the expeditionary force to fight its way in would in itself probably be a matter of several months, and we are not intending to undertake that exercise," he said.

Milosevic asks for 'all necessary assistance'

Milosevic, right, appeals to Yugoslavia's allies for 'necessary assistance' to oppose NATO

On state television Saturday, Milosevic lambasted the NATO attacks and called for international support.

"It is the duty of all free countries to stand up to the military despotism of NATO, led by the United States, which is destroying the United Nations system and represents the most serious threat to international peace and security since World War II," Milosevic said.

He had met with the Ukrainian defense and foreign ministers, who came to Belgrade to try to mediate Yugoslavia's standoff with the West.

"As an attacked country, Yugoslavia should get all necessary assistance," added the defiant Yugoslav leader, alluding to traditional allies of Serbs, including Russia and Ukraine.

Montenegrin leaders urge Milosevic to back down

But President Milo Djukanovic of Montenegro, one of the two republics that make up the Yugoslav federation, called on Milosevic Saturday to resume peace talks with the Kosovar Albanians.

After Djukanovic met with his Cabinet in the Montenegrin capital, Podgorica, the leadership issued a statement that "conflict with the world, which has kept Yugoslavia isolated, is no policy for the future of our people and our state."

Djukanovic has been a longtime critic of Milosevic, but he also called on NATO to end the air offensive. Although Montenegro declared neutrality in the dispute, military targets in Montenegro have been bombed.

Clinton: Kosovo violence shows need for strikes

In his weekly radio address to the American people Saturday, Clinton said the increased Serb offensive in Kosovo was even more reason for NATO allies to "stay the course" and continue the air attacks on Yugoslav targets.

NATO officials say the bombings will continue until Milosevic accepts a proposed peace plan for Kosovo, or until NATO considers the Yugoslav armed forces so reduced that they will not be able to carry on attacks in Kosovo.

British Air Commodore David Wilby said NATO's third round of bombings, launched Friday, had seen 249 aircraft sorties. He said the targets included sites in Belgrade and Nis in Serbia, and several others in Kosovo.

Five Yugoslav aircraft have been shot down so far, including two over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Friday, Wilby said. He said there had been no NATO losses to date.

Correspondents Christiane Amanpour, Brent Sadler, Chris Burns, Chris Black and Patricia Kelly contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.